What's at stake?
District leaders for FUSD shared that the district is taking a look into what cuts it can make to address decreased revenues from declining enrollment.
Fresno Unified’s schools could look very different very soon and the district’s board wants to make sure that parents stay in the loop as it begins looking into what cuts could be made this year, including potential school closures and key program consolidation, like dual enrollment classrooms.
At a workshop on Wednesday, Superintendent Misty Her explained that because of the district’s continuing enrollment dips causing declining funds, the district is beginning to study its options regarding everything from cutting or consolidation programs to boundary changes, staffing cuts and closing schools.
Specifically, Her said that the district is looking at making cuts to its dual enrollment programs and changing its elementary and middle schools into a TK-5, grades 6-8 structure.
“Of course, we’re not going to do it all at once, but we’re going to have to do it through an intentional, phased-in approach with our community involved,” Her said.
Her and the board repeatedly emphasized their desire to keep parents and the community involved in conversations about the budget to avoid miscommunications, with Her referring to the cutting of centrally funded field trips and the response that followed.
“When we don’t have the enrollment and we don’t have ADA in the way it is, there simply is no money,” Her added.
Trustee Elizabeth Jonasson Rosas spoke candidly about the process, saying that tough decisions lie ahead for Fresno Unified.
“These are going to be painful things for our community, and so sometimes we disguise it in language that doesn’t sound as bad because we want to be not as negative about the situation, but I think that’s part of the reason our community doesn’t see it when we say it like that,” Rosas said.
“So I’m just going to say school closure, program elimination, supports eliminations, and really significant cuts, staff cuts; that is what we’re facing,” Rosas added.
Patrick Jensen, the district’s chief financial officer, also explained that the board will be creating a budget committee to engage community members regarding the conversations around school and program consolidation. Jensen said that details and applications for the committee will become available as the fall semester progresses.
Since 2018, Fresno Unified has seen more than $123 million in funding evaporate due to the declining enrollment and chronic absenteeism, Jensen said Wednesday.
“It has a negative impact on our ability to provide services for our students and has a negative impact on our desire to provide more and better opportunities for our students across the district,” he said.
For the 2025-26 year, daily attendance increased just under a percentage point to 92.1% from the previous year, still below pre-pandemic levels of around 94.8%. Chronic absenteeism also decreased by around 5% down to 24.1% this past school year, still above the 2018-19 rate of 15.8%.
The district’s chief academic officer, Carlos Castillo, presented targets for the district’s student attendance and chronic absenteeism, which seek to raise attendance levels to 94% by 2028-29 and lower absenteeism to 17%.
No specific timeline was given for when the board or superintendent would come back with more information on cuts.
